Beadle County (South Dakota, USA)

In the 1950s Beadle County, South Dakota, in the northeastern part of the state, had five organized Mennonite congregations, besides the Hutterian Brethren and a mission station in Huron. Approximately 1,300 Mennonites, including about 200 Hutterites, lived in the county. The Mennonite settlement extended north into Spink County and northeast into Clark County. Besides the Hutterites, two other branches were represented in the settlement—the General Conference and the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren, the latter being more numerous. The Krimmer Mennonite Brethren arrived in the county in 1902 and soon organized the Bethel congregation (KMB), which in 1950 was the largest Mennonite congregation in the area.